I mean the Invidious project is nice. So is NewPipe. I tend to primarily use YouTube through a patched android app with Revanced; and with SmartTube on an android TV set-top box. When uBlock Origin finally falls; I’ll almost certainly move to downloading videos automatically and putting them into Jellyfin, hopefully the options for automated YT downloads gets better by then. Right now the best option seems to be ytdl-sub.
Geez no wonder you’re in a bit of a funk. It’s terrible having to moderate friends in general, and that’s a messy situation that will only lead to misunderstanding when done over text. Hope you take some time for you and check in with yourself.